Method of treating iron or steel.



portlon in accordancewlth the metho use,

STATES VIRGINIA.

To all ivhomit'may concern- Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. BEoKET,

v a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Treating Iron or Steel, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a method of treating iron or steel and removing therefrom gaseous and other impurities WlllOll exert a deleterious effect on the metal; according to the invention there is incorporated with the molten cium, preferably but notnecessarily asso-' ciated with aluminium and silicon, carbon being usually present in greater or less r0} 0 manufacture employed. Iron is also usually present as a component of the alloy, derived from the ores employed in its manufacture.

It 'is well known that gases, particularl nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon monoxi are occluded by molten steel and,tend to separate therefrom at the moment of solidification, and it is customary toadd to the steel, usually at the time of casting, either aluminiumor an alloy containing aluminium, for the purpose of eliminating such gases. In order to eflect acommercially complete oxids,and to some extent the reduction. of the percentage of phosphorus, I propose the referab y in the manner above indicate andin proportions dependent upon the kind of iron or steel and the percentage of impurities therein, of the alloy containing titanium and calcium above referred to.-

. I may produce an alloy containing titanium andcalcium by reduction by carbon in an electric furnace of a charge containin ox1ds or oxygen compounds of titanium and calcium, usually with the addition of silica in proportion ,dependin upon the percentage of silicon desired. he reduction of the mixed oxids yields a product of metallic character instead of thecarbid which would result from the reduction of either oxid alone. In addition to its value as an, ingredi ent of the allo for use in the treatment of iron'or steel, s' icon acts toa marked degree to diminish the percentage of carbon in the Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 13, 1907. Serial No. 362,224.

metal an alloy containingtitanium and cal elimination of such gases and also the further result of a substantial reduction of the per-' centage of sulfur and dissolved metallic PATENT OFFICE.

"FREDERICK BECKET, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR To ELECTRO METALLURGICAL COMPANY, A CORPORATION or Wns'r METHOD oF' TREATING IRON 0R STEEL.

. Patented June 25, 1907.

I product; this is of advantage for the reason' that a roduct low in carbon canbe added, if desire in relatively large proportions. to iron or steel without unduly increasing the proportion of carbon in the resulting metal. When an alloy containing aluminium in addition to titanium and calcium is desired, it is most conveniently produced by reduction in an electric furnace having an electrode or electrodes of carbon, of a charge containing oxids of titanium and calcium, or of titanium, calcium and silicon, by means of metallic alumlnlum used 1n pro ortlon to a yield an aluminium-bearing a oy; or a mixture of the ox1ds of t1tamum, calcium and alumin um, or of tltamum, calclum, aluminium and silicon, may be reduced by carbon. In any case the operation is preferabl rendered continuous in character by ad ing fresh portions of the charge from time to time, and tapping the molten alloy as desired.

An example of the composition of alloys I have produced for the purpose indicated is shown by the f ollowinganalysis:

' It willbe understood that the proportions of the several components of the alloy, or the presence therein of aluminium or silicon, is

determined by the composition of the charge I The appearance of the alloy varies in ac- 4 cordance with its composition, mode and. scale of production, rate of. cooling,,etc.: in-

general it exists as a light gray or grayish productof metallic appearance but without pronounced luster or distinct crystalline structure, of moderate hardness.

articu- I larly when a considerable proportionipf .cal-' cium is present it is subject to slow decomposition in water or moist air.

It not practicable to state with certaint 'f the complete function of each ingredient of the above described alloy. It may be assumed, however, that the titanium acts chiefly upon the occluded nitrogen; the-calcium upon the nitrogen, hydrogen, sulfur, the dissolved oxids, and to some extent phosphorus; the aluminium upon the carbon monoxid and dissolved oxids; and the silicon upon the hydrogen and dissolved oxids. This assumption is based upon the observed facts that alloys of this type exert a beneficial action upon steel and reduce the proportion of impurities therein, taken in connectionwith the fact that the constituent elements of the alloys are known to form stable compounds with the elements which the are assumed to remove. The result of t e addition of the combined elements is to eliminate a very substantial proportion of the impurities commonly existing in iron or steel. As comparedwith ferrotitanium the alloy possesses a relativel low melting point, and is much more rea 'ly incorporated with the molten metal and distributed therethrough.

Iclaim: 1. The method of treating iron or steel molten metal an alloy containing titanium,

calcium, aluminium, silicon, and carbon.

5. The method of treating iron or steel which consists in incorporating with the molten metal an alloy containing titanium, calcium, aluminium, silicon, carbon, and iron.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK M. BECKET.

Witnesses C. C. MOSHER, J. N. DEINHARDT. 

